Shuffling its narrative until the guilt or innocence of Sushenya (an unsettlingly stoical Vladimir Svirskiy) is as tangled as the forest he’s hiding in, the film strips away ideas of heroism mercilessly.

But austere, distancing visuals, and a ponderous slow-burn pace ensure that it can’t rival Elem Klimov’s devastating Come And See in the war-is-hell stakes.